Snap
by The madness in me
Summary: Even nice guys had their limits and despite popular opinion Steve Rogers has never been a saint.
1. Chapter 1

He was always going to snap eventually

In a team like this it was inevitable

Being the only person who was allowed no leeway, no freedom, no space to just relax and be human.

There was never any room to just be Steve because he always expected to be The Captain. It was exhausting and frustrating and sooner or later something was always going to give.

As he stood there at the front of the table, eyes sweeping over the angry glares directed at him by his team he knew that he had reached his limit.

It was the injustice of the mater that bothered him most. The hypocrisy.

He could easily admit that on this one occasion he was in the wrong. It was a beautiful day, everything was calm and he decided to take this opportunity to finally explore this new city and see what had changed. He wasn't psychic; he couldn't have predicted there would be an attack whilst he was out. Taking a phone everywhere may have been an ingrained habit for everyone else in this century but it had slipped his mind today. This one occasion. Out of the hundreds of time he had remembered to take the damn thing with him.

And it just had to be this one time that the shit hit the fan.

He had been out of contact for as little as two hours and the latest irritating prick to try his hand at world domination had decided today would be a good day to send a dozen fucking killer robots into New York. Seriously, where are these nutjobs coming from and how is it they are managing to build these things without anyone noticing? SHEILD is meant to be an intelligence agency, why is it they never seem to fucking know anything?

Apparently the fight didn't go very well. Without Captain America there to call the shots and keep everyone in line the whole thing was a disaster. They were reckless and unorganized and although they eventually did win, far more damage was done to the city than necessary.

And it was all his fault.

Because he wasn't there.

What do they think he does when he's not at headquarters? Sit by the phone in his uniform waiting for the next disaster so he can spring into action?

It's ok for Tony to take a spontaneous holiday to Hawaii for a few weeks without telling anyone or for Bruce to disappear off the map for over a month because he 'needs space' but Steve goes out for a walk and suddenly he's the worst person in the world. It's more than he can deal with.

Fury is currently staring him down with his one good eye as he rants and raves about how irresponsible Steve was today; how he expects more from Captain America; how everyone expects more from Captain America. The rest of the group sits there nodding in agreement.

"Well Captain, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Captain America is polite, when things go wrong he stays humble and respectful and gives his apologies as is expected of him.

Deep breath "I'm sorry" he says turning to look at his team.

What many people don't realize however is there are two sides to Captain Steve Rogers. There is The Captain and there is Steve. After 7 long years of sitting back and letting The Captain have the reigns Steve has had enough, now it's his turn.

"I'm sorry you pathetic, useless group of lunatics couldn't pull your shit together for five fucking minutes and behave like a team without me there to hold your hands."

The silence in the room was palpable, even Tony was shocked into silence. No one could quite believe what they had just heard from their usually shy and conservative leader.

"Seriously. If you were any more fucking dependent on me I would be holding your cocks whilst you piss."

Finally the shock was beginning to wear off and shouts of protest were raised.

"Captain what the hell do you think you're doing?" Fury screamed above the rest

"I'm done with this. I can't stand this team anymore" Steve's resolve grew with every word "Consider this my resignation, next time there is an attack you will just have to figure out how to deal with it yourselves. I joined the army to do my part in the war. Well the war is long over and I've done more than my duty."

The wave of relief that washed over him was indescribable. For the first time in months he could breath. All the stress and anxiety that had been a constant feature in his mind for so long was lifting away and he felt free. The joy of it caused him to burst into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

Turning away from the crazed mass of people at the table, still shouting out their protests in a chorus of angry voices all blending into one, he sauntered towards the door, almost skipping in his excitement.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Natasha's voice finally snapped through the haze of others.

He quickly spun back to face them again, with a light whoosh and a happy grin across his face.

"Honestly Nat, I don't care. Anywhere. Everywhere. I'm gonna travel, go somewhere warm where I can lie on a beach and not give a shit about anything. Above all else I'm going to get fucked. And believe me I mean that in absolutely every sense of the word."

He quietly chuckled at the once again silent room and the shocked faces of his now former team mates before once again turning and leaving the room.

In his defense he really had wanted to help his country when he signed up to the army. The world needed a hero and he needed a way in; so he did what was expected of him; played the good virtuous patriot that the world wanted him to be. But people forget he wasn't always The Captain, one upon a time he was just Steve, little orphan on the streets of New York. Nice guys don't survive in that sort of environment, especially not ones his size. So he got tough, he learned to take a punch even if he couldn't dish them out. _If you break from something as petty as a few beatings you're never gonna make it out here kid._ He learned to manipulate people. Used his supposed naivety to his advantage. Make them think you're an easy target and they won't notice they have been duped until they are halfway to the ground with a knife in their back.

He may not have much by way of savings but if he survived as a child on the streets pre-serum then sleeping rough now and then isn't going to be much of a challenge now.

It's a whole new world out there and an old almost forgotten part of Steve is finally making a reappearance. Now the fear of survival he faced as a child and the overbearing responsibility he faced as a soldier are both finally gone, he's going to have some fun.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve fully expected a mass of SHEILD agents to come barging in at any moment to drag him out. Part of him wanted it more than anything just because it would be funny to watch them trying to fight him. The other part hoped they wouldn't because this in itself was so much fun and he was eager to see how far it would play out.

This honestly hadn't been his intention when he stormed out yesterday but it was a lucky accident which he had jumped at whole heartedly. The thing is…..SHEILD liked to be in control of everything, Especially when it came to the Avengers and _**especially**_ when it came to the Avengers in the media. Public opinion was everything and one of the team saying the wrong thing to the wrong reporter could spark a PR disaster of monumental proportions.

Tony of course was a lost cause when it came to censoring but since he had already been a well-known public figure long before the Avengers initiative started the world was well used to him by now and would generally just let anything he said pass without fuss. Even if he did slip up he was smooth enough to talk his way out of it without issue. Bruce's calm demeanour and rational attitude made him a talented public speaker who thought through his answers carefully and could be trusted to respond appropriately to any questions posed to him. Clint and Natasha were of course experts at knowing exactly what to say, how to say it.

The good little captain was another story. No one here in the 21st century really had any idea what to expect from Steve Rogers. The problem was that they thought they did. In the time he was asleep an idealised image of him as the perfect, just and noble patriot had left every social group in the country believing they knew the man behind the cowl and every one of them had managed to shift and twist his memory to convince themselves that whatever it was they believed in, must have been something he believed in too.

It wasn't their fault really; the world had changed so much since he had last been a part of it, and the way people viewed the world had changed with it. It's hard to accept the idea of someone you admire thinking in a different way to you, having different opinions, maybe even believing in things you are against.

Unfortunately for him, because the government was still desperate to use him as their faultless star spangled poster boy it was completely unacceptable for any of those delicate little bubbles people were living in to be popped.

It was naturally assumed that a poor naïve, painfully old fashioned and culturally out of touch idiot like him would inevitably and immediately say the wrong thing if allowed anywhere near the press at which point all hell would of course break loose. The powers that be within shield had rather reasonably decided it would be best to make sure this never ever happened. Thus the first rule in Avengers public relations came about. Captain America is not allowed to talk to reporters. Ever!

The occasional public appearance was expected from time to time of course but those were very carefully controlled, pre-arranged and scripted affairs. The correct answers to the correct questions.

Catlin Marcia was not a reporter who asked the right questions.

Steve was not allowed within a hundred feet of Catlin Marcia. It was absolutely 100% strictly forbidden for him to ever, ever, ever talk to her and an absolute mortal sin for him to ever agree to a live exclusive interview with her.

So of course when he left the SHEILD compound still high on euphoria from his impromptu retirement and found himself bumping into none other than the notoriously controversial demon of media chat shows; the woman who for months now had been aggressively fighting against the aforementioned powers for the chance to interview him; that is exactly what he did.

This was going to be hilarious.


End file.
